Best Vegan Pizza (ever).
Prep time
Total time
This recipe is partially a "choose your own adventure" kind of endeavor. You can make all the components from scratch for my favorite "slow food" version of this pizza, or pick and choose your crust and sauce recipes based on your time available to cook and your dietary needs. No matter what, do take the time to roast the eggplant into buttery perfection. This is a key component of the pizza.
The Crust:
•You can find my recipe for whole-wheat pizza dough below.
•This pizza crust recipe is my favorite gluten-free crust made from brown rice flour by Dolly and Oatmeal (this is the crust pictured in this post, and the only gluten-free crust recipe I've found that I like just as much as traditional wheat crust!),
•I've also been known to use purchased whole wheat pizza dough from Whole Foods as well, which also turns out great!
The Sauce:
•My FAVORITE "slow food" option is to make a big batch of my Mega Veggie Pasta Sauce ahead of time and keep it in the freezer in small batches for pizza. I would recommend making the mega veggie sauce in advance on a different day unless you're looking forward to spending many hours in the kitchen!
•I've also included a good quick and easy pizza sauce recipe below for if you'd like to make it from scratch but don't have time for the mega veggie sauce.
For best results, use a pizza stone, but if you don't have one a sheet pan will work too.
The Crust:
•You can find my recipe for whole-wheat pizza dough below.
•This pizza crust recipe is my favorite gluten-free crust made from brown rice flour by Dolly and Oatmeal (this is the crust pictured in this post, and the only gluten-free crust recipe I've found that I like just as much as traditional wheat crust!),
•I've also been known to use purchased whole wheat pizza dough from Whole Foods as well, which also turns out great!
The Sauce:
•My FAVORITE "slow food" option is to make a big batch of my Mega Veggie Pasta Sauce ahead of time and keep it in the freezer in small batches for pizza. I would recommend making the mega veggie sauce in advance on a different day unless you're looking forward to spending many hours in the kitchen!
•I've also included a good quick and easy pizza sauce recipe below for if you'd like to make it from scratch but don't have time for the mega veggie sauce.
For best results, use a pizza stone, but if you don't have one a sheet pan will work too.
Author: Spoon With Me
Serves: 1 large pizza
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 pint (about 10 ounces cherry tomatoes)
- 1 lb eggplant, sliced ¼ inch thin
- ½ medium yellow onion, thinly sliced then roughly chopped
- 4 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 2 cups Mega Veggie sauce, or Quick and Easy Marinara Sauce (recipe below, see notes above)
- 1 recipe gluten-free pizza dough (recipe here)or whole wheat pizza dough (recipe below)
- fresh basil pesto (recipe below)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- kosher salt or sea salt
Instructions
- Prepare your chosen pizza dough and sauce recipes and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400˚F.
- Put a couple layers of paper towels on a large baking sheet. Scatter a couple pinches of salt on top of the paper towels. Arrange the eggplant slices in a single layer on top of the salt. Sprinkle the tops of the eggplant with a couple pinches more salt, and place another layer of paper towels on top of the eggplant. Set aside for 20-30 minutes so that the eggplant releases some moisture (this will help it cook better and get more tender).
- Remove the eggplant from the paper towels and brush or spray with a couple tablespoons olive oil, making sure that both sides of each slice are coated with oil. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the undersides are golden. Flip and roast for 10-15 minutes longer, or until both sides are golden brown but the eggplant is tender. Remove eggplant from the pan and wrap in foil--it will steam itself and become more tender.
- Toss the cherry tomatoes in a tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until tomatoes are slightly shriveled, tender and spotted golden. Set aside.
- While the eggplant and cherry tomatoes are roasting, make the pesto.
- Increase the oven to 500˚ F and heat a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven for 30 minutes.
- When all your pizza components are ready, roll (or stretch) out your dough on a piece of parchment paper. ( If making the gluten-free crust, scatter brown rice flour over the top before rolling it out with a rolling pin or pressing it out with your fingers. Also note that the gluten-free pizza crust needs to be par-baked before adding toppings).
- Brush the outside "crust" edges of with a thin layer of olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder and salt.
- Spread the sauce over the pizza (as much as you would like), and arrange the roasted eggplant slices on top. Scatter the onions, mushrooms and roasted cherry tomatoes on top. Sprinkle a little salt on top. Slide the parchment paper that the pizza is on onto the heated pizza stone. Bake for 18-25 minutes, or until the edges of the crust start to look golden and mushrooms appear cooked. When pizza is cooked, dot the top with teaspoonfuls of pesto (I like to add after cooking the pizza so that it retains its bright green color and fresh herby taste).
- Slice and serve hot.
Recipe by Spoon With Me at https://spoonwithme.com/best-vegan-pizza-ever/